Vehicle-holdback.



No. 769,389. PATENTED SEPT. 6, 1904. 0. M. KNOX.

VEHICLE HOLDBAGK.

APPLICATION FILED D30. 18, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

3% amwmfir.

I JV VENTOR ATTORNEY UNITED STATES Patented September 6, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

VEHlCLE-HOLDBACK- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. '7 69,389, dated September 6, 1904.

Application filed December 18, 1902. Serial No. 135,661. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beitknown thatI, ORvILLs M. KNOX, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Oneida, in the county of Madison, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vehicled Ioldbacks,of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class of holdbaek attachments which comprise a base-plate secured to the thill of the vehicle, a keeper pivoted to said base-plate to receive the holdback-strap of the harness, and means for sustaining said keeper in position to retain the holdbackstrap in its proper operative posi tion and capable of automatically releasing said strap in the operation of nnhitching the horse or in case of accidental detachment of the traces of the harness.

The invention consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement of parts of a holdback, will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, in which each reference-letter indicates the same part in each of the views in which it occurs, Figure l is a side view of a holdback embodying my improvements, with the holdback-strap of the harness shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line X X in Fig. 2, and Fig. t is a detached inverted plan view of the keeper.

(1 represents the base-plate of the holdback attachment, which is elongated and perforated at its ends for the reception of screws 7/ 7) or other suitable attaching devices by means of which the plate is fastened to the under side of the thill T.

0 indicates the keeper to which the holdback-strap S of the harness is connected, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2., when the horse is hitched to the vehicle. This keeper is pivoted at one end to a post 1, which is attached to or projects from the plate a at or near one of the side edges thereof, and the rearward swinging of said keeper is limited by a stop a, which projects downward from the opposite edge of the base-plate a and is in position to allow the free end of the keeper to lie against the front of the stop when the keeper is in its normal position to retain the holdback-strap thereon. The pivotal end of the keeper (7 is provided with a hollow or socketed hub a, through which the post (I is passed, the inner end of the hub being seated directly upon the bflSO-1)li1t((6 and provided on its edge with anotch or recess a and the outer end perforated, through which the post (I is passed for holding the inner end against the plate. The socket g/ of the hub extends nearly to the outer end or to a point past the axial center of the keeper and is provided at its bottom with a recess it, which extends radially therefrom and substantially in line with the axis of the keeper. F represents a spiral spring which forces the keeper to its normal closed position on the stop (2. This spring is arranged in the socket 7, formed in the hub of the kceperU and surrounds the post (I. The wall of the socket forms a shield over the spring to protect the same. Two lugs and m project from the plate (1, one on each side of the hub, one of which, 11/, forms a stop for a projection 71 on the hub, and the other end is provided with a groove or recess 1' at its base for the reception of one end of the spring F. The projection 1) extends substantially radially from the hub and at right angles to the keeper (1, and the recess 11 is located diametrically opposite the projection p and is only of suliicient length to permit of the free end of the keeper being swung away from the stop (5 to permit of the insertion of the holdback-strap S. By constructing the keeper and its hub in this manner the depth of the recess is suiiicient to permit the use of a longer and stronger spring than has heretofore been possible, which adds very materially to its life by increasing its size and decreasing its liability to breakage. It also permits of the inner end of the spring being entirely inclosed, and thereby protecting it from the water and other foreign substances that would have access to it if it were seated in an open or exposed slot or recess. It will also permit of the notch )2 in the end of the hub being reduced to the least possible size, thereby giving the hub a larger bearing on the plate (a and also presenting the smallest-sized orifice through which water and other foreign substances can gain access to the interior of the recess or socket g, and by seating the projecting end of the spring in the recess a only a small portion of the spring be-- tween the hub and the stop-lug Z is really exposed and the tip or free end is completely shielded, which will prevent its catching upon the strap S or other object. I To prevent the free end of the keeper from being pressed toward the base-plate by the strain upon it in that direction by the strap S, the stop 6 is provided with a seat or shoulder 0, against complete or without requiring other manipu' lation to formthe shoulder. The other faces of the stop are made straight or inclined toward the tip, which also permits of the easy removal of the pattern from the mold. The shoulder is located at a distance from the baseplate equal to the length of the hub projecting from one side of the keeper, so that the keeper will be held parallel with said plate. Another advantage secured by forming the shoulder without any portion of the stop projecting beyond or overhanging it is that in introducing the strap S onto the keeper it is only necessary to move the free end of the keeper away from the stop a little more than the thickness of the strap, which will thus permit of the strap being slipped upon the keeper from a position beyond the stop and in alinement with the keeper.

1 am aware that prior to my present invention a seat has been formed in the stop a, but it was made semicircular to receive the form of keeper cooperating therewith; but by constructing the keeper at the pivotal end, as above described, the wall of the seat can be formed straight, as shown in Fig. 1. It is obyious that a semicircular seat cannot be formed of the base-plate, inasmuch as it does not permit the pattern to be withdrawn vertically from the mold without destroying the mold. Consequently the said semicircular seat can only be formed by cutting it in the stop after the casting has been removed from the mold, and thus the cost of manufacture is considerably increased.

Having thus described my invention, I claim A vehicle-holdback comprising a perforated base-plate and a spring-actuated keeper pivotally mounted thereon, one side of the plate being provided with two stops at one edge and one stop at the opposite edge, one of the two stops being provided at its base with a groove and the single stop being provided with a shoulder near its tip, the portion of the stop from the shoulder to the tip being straight and the keeper being provided at its pivotal end with a socketed hub extending from one side a distance equal to the distance that said shoulder is from the base plate, and said socket extending into the hub to a point beyond the axial center of the keeper and having a recess extending radially therefrom substantially in line with the keeper, the edge of the inner end of the hub being provided with a recess and the opposite end with a projection substantially at right angles to the keeper, said projection and recess in the edge of the hub being substantially diametrically opposite each other, a headed post extending through the outer end of the hub and axially through said socket and engaging with the base-plate at a point between said two stops, and a coilspring around said post in the socket, the inner end of the spring being seated in said recess in the socket and the outer end projecting through the recess in the edge of the hub and resting in said groove at the base of one of said two stops, substantially as described.

ORVILLE M. KNOX.

I Witnesses:

J a J. LAASS, WM. H. MEIER, Jr 

